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Best of the rest: Ross' picks
Lumines Live! (XBLA) On a big screen with surround sound, Q Entertainment's Lumines Live was easily the most-played game in my library (if you stretch the definition of library to digitally distributed titles). Although I railed against how microtransactions were implemented in this title and still think the extent to which they disclosed the dearth of features was misleading, both the Basic and Advanced Pack got more than enough play time, as did the multiplayer. It is the best Xbox Live Arcade title since Geometry Wars.
Joystiq's Game of the Year
Gears of War (Xbox 360)What the hell just happened? Did we honestly pick Gears of War as the best game of 2006? No, that can't be. The plan was to throw juvenile tantrums and to violently thrash against the machine! To blind the world with an elitist badge and proclaim an innate resistance against games that are both popular and heavily marketed! It's a shooter, for Allard's sake. You shoot things. With guns.The senseless violence is but one reason to look away from the screen in disgust. The other, as you may have concluded already, is the appalling state of the game's graphics. They make Pong look like an M.C. Escher painting being displayed in a room pumped full of hallucinogenic gas. If you can even discern your pixelated soldier from the flat environment, you'll note how you get repeatedly punished for running blindly into a hail of bullets and neglecting to take "cover." Not only is this completely unrealistic and contrary to modern warfare, it's a needless refinement to a bizarre, self-preservation concept in the genre. See, it's not even a very good shooter. The complete lack of immersion and excitement carries over into the game's terrible online cooperative mode. Some idiot on your friends list can rudely jump into your game at any point and then proceed to get in your way at every available turn. Multiplayer deathmatch isn't any better, forcing you to work with 3 other buffoons (who can't even circle-strafe or jump) if you hope to succeed. Add a forgettable MIDI soundtrack, poor pacing and a complete failure to emulate an action film to your considerations, and you become perfectly equipped to answer the pertinent question. Game of the year? Obviously not.The runners-up are presented (in order) after the break.
PSP Fanboy Game of the Year 2006
What is PSP Fanboy's Game of the Year? You chose it, by an overwhelming margin:PSP Fanboy Game of the Year:Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (32% of the votes)Is there any surprise? Portable Ops is no side-story, spin-off, or card game. This is the real deal, with console-quality presentation to prove it. The surprisingly deep story and incredibly detailed graphics made Portable Ops a great game; but the online multiplayer, recruitment abilities and GPS functionality made this a system-defining game. Portable Ops proves that a handheld game can not only follow in the footsteps of its console brethren, but actually surpass it.Runners-Up:Loco Roco (17% of the votes)You know a game is special when it feels like nothing you've ever played before. The brilliant three-button control scheme, colorful graphics, and charming personality made this one of the year's best.Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (15% of the votes)You can drive, kill, chill, golf, swim, and more in this insanely huge follow-up to last year's Liberty City Stories. The incredible graphics and fantastic presentation values showcase why the PSP is a technical powerhouse.Andrew's PSP Game of the Year:Daxter (7% of the votes)Daxter may not be innovative, but it shows how a PSP game should be made. The silky graphics are made even sweeter by non-existent load times, and controls that make you never, ever beg for a second analog stick.
Fanboys choose our Game of the Year
Which of the following is the best PSP game released in 2006? Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Tekken: Dark Resurrection Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror Daxter LocoRoco Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Mega Man: Powered Up Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy MLB 06: The Show Free polls from Pollhost.com It's that time of the year ... Because everyone else is doing it, we decided to let YOU the educated PSP Fanboy reader to tell the world (or at least me) what the real best PSP game of 2006 was. The ten selections you see here are provided by Game Rankings: these are the top 10 games, in order, to come out in 2006 (and that includes, for some crazy reason, the Final Fantasy VII movie). Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was the critic's top choice, earning an 89 average score (making it the 25th best game across all platforms for the year).I'm sorry if your top choice (::cough:: Gitaroo-Man Lives! ::cough::) didn't make the list. Feel free to leave a comment, glorifying your choice.
What end of year awards did PSP earn?
Every major video game site loves to do an end-of-year "Best of" awards feature (something we'll undoubtedly lash out at you, PSP Fanboy reader). Contrary to popular belief, the PSP has done quite well for itself, and some of the awards its received may surprise you. Here's a run-down of everything I've seen across the Internet:GamespotBest Platformer: DaxterDaxter beat out three Nintendo DS games, including New Super Mario Bros, thanks to its incredible technology, great personality and fantastic gameplay. "The gorgeous visuals and sound are wrapped in gameplay that is as polished and enjoyable as any full-fledged PlayStation 2 game. While not wholly original, Daxter sacrifices nothing and is simply an all-around amazing game."Best PSP Game: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops"Portable Ops not only delivers some of the best presentation quality to date on the PSP, but makes some meaningful, interesting changes to the MGS formula. The resulting game is very well suited to playing on the go and also achieves a better balance of gameplay and storytelling than previous Metal Gear Solid games."IGNPSP Game of the Year: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror"What's most impressive is the depth of the action -- no second analog stick required! The control scheme enables you to do everything from operate a set of gadgets and diffuse bombs to snipe enemies and sift through different enemy types, all without slowing down the pace of the action."Games RadarWTF Award: LocoRocoGames Radar certainly took a non-traditional approach to awards this year. "We also loved that you couldn't play this game without cracking a smile - the nonsense songs were insanely catchy, the bright colors and curvy shapes were captivating and the overall theme was almost relentlessly happy and fun. By forcing our jaded, stone-like faces to grin once again, LocoRoco earns its Platinum Chalice like few other games on this list."The "It Doesn't Actually Suck" Award: PSPGames Radar understands what we've known all the time: PSP is a great system. The plethora of excellent exclusive titles and fantastic PS2 ports has Games Radar and PSP fanboys everywhere asking "this is a bad system?"Next Generation23rd Best Game: LocoRocoIn its top 50 list, LocoRoco managed to break into 23rd place. "Eminently cute and weird as a $3 bill, LocoRoco had players controlling a world and tilting it in order for a smiling blobbish thing to collect goodies, get fatter, and eventually roll or drop past a finishing point. It was as if someone's strange drug-induced hallucination had come to life on the PSP, complete with a dandy soundtrack and a punishing difficulty factor."
Gamespot's GOTY goes to ... GoW
We reported earlier that voting was up for Game of the Year at Gamespot, and the results are finally in. Epic's Gears of War took home the 2006 award for Game of the Year (cue victory dance)! The nominee list was brimming with Xbox 360 candidates, so we figured the odds were pretty good that we'd see the winner be a 360 title. To be honest, we were secretly pulling for Gears to take home the award and it is nice to see that the fans felt the same way. We rise our glasses and toast you Gears of War, job well done and we can't wait to get our hands on your sequel (cue another victory dance)!
Associated Press' top handheld choice? LocoRoco
The Associated Press is one of the world's leading providers of news and opinion in the world. So, when such a huge mainstream press outlet says something good about the PSP, I take note. AP chose Oblivion as their Overall Game of the Year, and gave LocoRoco the award for Portable Game of the Year. "Sony's PlayStation Portable finally received a great, original game this summer with LocoRoco. Heaps of cuteness, creativity and charm made what could have been another boring platformer into one of the year's most original and irresistible video games." Surely, this comes as a surprise to those that expected a DS game to win. However, it's not all roses in Sony-land. The PLAYSTATION 3 got the dubious award of "Worst Console Launch." [Via Online Athens]
1UP Awards: PSP earns more nominations than DS
The PSP took a whopping 31 nominations this year in 1UP's annual "1UP Awards." The DS, on the other hand, only received 22. If you're a member of 1UP, now's the chance to rock the vote and show everyone that the PSP really does have an excellent library of games, no matter what Nintendo fanboys may say. Here are some of the categories the PSP is competing in:StrategyMetal Gear Acid 2Field CommanderShootingSyphon Filter: Dark MirrorSOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2Sports NFL Street 3 NCAA Football 07 Racing ATV Offroad Fury Pro ActionLEGO Star Wars IIMega Man: Powered UpMetal Gear Solid: Portable OpsKillzone: LiberationAdventureDaxterGrand theft Auto: Vice City StoriesFightingPower Stone CollectionWWE Smackdown vs. RawGuilty Gear JudgmentTekken: Dark ResurrectionStreet Fighter Alpha 3 MAXOnlineSOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2Puzzle (the PSP nearly swept this category!)Lumines IIEvery Extend ExtraMercury MeltdownExitGunpeyWTFLemmingsSimulationAce Combat X: Skies of DeceptionMost InnovativeLoco RocoMetal Gear Solid: Portable OpsGame of the YearGrand Theft Auto: Vice City StoriesMetal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
PSP wins best handheld game award; DS gets family nod
The 24th annual Golden Joysticks awards were awarded on Friday. Unlike many other awards, the Golden Joysticks are voted for by the fans. Nintendo DS fans will be comforted to know their handheld took the "Family Game of the Year" and "Girl's Choice" awards with their pet simulator Nintendogs. However, PSP fanboys will be glad to know that we got... well, an award that really matters: the "Handheld Game of the Year." It was awarded to the impressive Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (whose sequel is coming out in just a few days).The "Game of the Year" award went to a non-PSP game, Oblivion. But wait, we're getting that too. I guess Nintendo fans can just enjoy yet another version of Nintendogs.[Via DS Fanboy]
